Neighborhood Picnic

Each July, our neighborhood puts on an awesome picnic at the elementary school.  They have lunch catered by a local BBQ restaurant, all sorts of treats, carnival games, bounce houses, a petting zoo, a train, pony rides--all sorts of fun!

And this little lady hung out with me all afternoon in the Bjorn carrier--basically her favorite place to be.

Photo Shoot With Joanne

When Annie was born, I really wanted to get some nice newborn photos taken of her.  I had a sense of sticker shock after researching some local photographers, though.  I didn't want to pay the hundreds of dollars that most of them charged.  So I asked my friend, Joanne, if she would be willing to take some photos of little Annie, and she graciously agreed.  She even took some of the boys, too.  I was a little disappointed, because the day of our photo shoot Annie was SO cranky and uncooperative.  But even still, Joanne did an awesome job.  Here are some of my favorites:

Oh, I love my three babies!

I LOVE this one!

This was a totally candid shot--I was just trying to get Annie to calm down.  But I love how it turned out!

This is the Place

We took a road trip to Utah last week.  A crazy endeavor with a 3-week-old baby, I will admit, but she was actually a real champ on the drive out.  Still, I wouldn't fully recommend doing it unless you have a brother going into the MTC and you want to say goodbye to him.  I did.  

We spent our first few days in Salt Lake with Adam's parents.  No one in his family had met Annie yet, and it was super cute to watch her cousins vie for the opportunity to hold her.  And I didn't take any pictures.  But she is one loved little girl!  

On Sunday night the entire Marchant clan (30 of us now!) had dinner together.  Since everyone was together, we took a group photo.  Probably not as impressive as the family pictures we took in Hawaii last fall, but at least we documented it!  And check out all those cute little blonde kids!  

Tuesday night we headed down to Provo to spend time with my family.  Then Adam left early Wednesday morning to drive back to Grand Junction to meet up with our ward's young men for their high adventure trip.  He got back to Provo on Saturday night.  So I was a single parent for the week, but at my parent's house I had tons of help, so it wasn't bad in the least!

Annie met her cousin, Alexsi for the first time.  They are 4 months and a day apart.

McKay loved Alexsi, too.  She has WAY more hair than his sister, so he helped her out with a hair-do.

We celebrated Matt's birthday.  It's not actually until tomorrow, but we celebrated it last week when we were all together.

As we drove into Provo on Tuesday night, Ty shouted, "Wow!  There's a "Y" on that mountain!"  We told him that it was possible to hike up to it and climb on it.  He was very impressed with the idea!  I had the thought that I should hike it with him while we were in town.  Ty has struggled somewhat since Annie has been born, and I thought the one-on-one time with just he and I, especially doing something physical, might be exactly what he needed.  But since the temperature was in the low 100's while we were there, we waited until evening one night and made the hike.  It was hard work for him, but he kept saying, "I'm not giving up!"  It was an absolute blast for both of us!  He was his happy, giggly self, and I loved having the time just with him.
I could have kicked myself that I forgot to take any pictures once we reached the "Y", but luckily, I remembered on the way back down the mountain and we took a few.

On Friday, I got to meet up with two of my all-time favorite people and former roommates for lunch.  Every time I am around these girls, I am reminded why I have such great memories of my time living with them.  They are the best!

Adam drove home with the boys on Monday, and Annie and I flew back yesterday morning.  It was great to have the time with our families and friends in Utah.

It's all about Annie

We just got back into town today after a week and a half in Utah.  So I wanted to post a few of the pictures I have taken of Annie in the last couple weeks--she is growing lots and also losing her hair rapidly.

She turned a month old yesterday.  I really think the first month is the hardest, and things will continue to get easier a little at a time.  At least that's what I have to keep telling myself!

Our Fourth

We had a pretty low-key Independence Day this year.  New baby=low motivation to do anything crazy.  But it was fun, regardless.

Our ward had a breakfast at the park that we attended.  The highlight for the kids was the Bike Parade. They decorated their bikes and rode them around the park while the adults watched.

When it's already 90 degrees at 9:30 in the morning, you take shade wherever and however you can get it, even if it means scrunching into your baby sister's car seat!

In the afternoon, Adam stayed home kids while I went shopping.  As part of my birthday present this year, he gave me a gift card to shop for what I call "In the Meantime" clothes.  You know, when your maternity clothes are too huge, but you are still way too big to fit in your "normal" clothes.  I hate shopping for "In the Meantime" clothes, because you don't look like you want to, so clothes don't look the way you want them to on you.  But since we are taking a trip to Utah next week, I thought it was prudent to at least have a couple pairs of pants that fit me.  And, oh, I SO appreciated the time alone out of the house!
We also tried to get our annual Kids-in-Red-White-and-Blue-Attire photos.  We are quickly finding it is  very difficult/impossible to get a decent shot of all three kids at once.

Well, we tried anyway.

Since our local firework show was cancelled (smart, since half of our state is on fire!), we decided to go see the new movie, Brave.  Adam and I both liked it, but neither of the boys did.  It was a bit intense for them.  And Annie slept like a champ all the way through it.
So, it was a bit of an unconventional Fourth of July.  But it was good!